Top 10 highest-paid CEOs

NEW YORK—Propelled by a soaring stock market, the median pay package for a CEO rose above eight figures for the first time last year.

The head of a typical large public company earned a record $10.5 million, an increase of 8.8 per cent from $9.6 million in 2012, according to a new Associated Press/Equilar study.

Last year was the fourth straight that CEO compensation rose following a decline during the Great Recession. The median CEO pay package climbed more than 50 per cent over that stretch. A chief executive now makes about 257 times the average worker’s salary, up sharply from 181 times in 2009.

The best paid CEO last year led an oilfield-services company. The highest paid female CEO was Carol Meyrowitz of discount retail giant TJX, owner of TJ Maxx and Marshall’s. And the head of Monster Beverage got a monster of a raise.

Here are the top 10 highest paid CEOs in 2013:

1. Anthony Petrello, Nabors Industries, $68.2 million, up 246 per cent
2. Leslie Moonves, CBS, $65.6 million, up 9 per cent
3. Richard Adkerson, Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, $55.3 million, up 294 per cent
4. Stephen Kaufer, TripAdvisor, $39 million, up 510 per cent
5. Philippe Dauman, Viacom, $37.2 million, up 11 per cent
6. Leonard Schleifer, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, $36.3 million, up 21 per cent
7. Robert Iger, Walt Disney, $34.3 million, up 46 per cent
8. David Zaslav, Discovery Communications, $33.3 million, down 33 per cent
9. Jeffrey Bewkes, Time Warner, $32.5 million, up 27 per cent
10. Brian Roberts, Comcast, $31.4 million, up 8 per cent

Equilar examined the regulatory filings detailing the pay packages of 337 CEOs. Equilar looked at Standard & Poor’s 500 companies that had filed statements with federal regulators between Jan. 1 and April 30, 2014. To avoid the distortions caused by sign-on bonuses, the sample includes only CEOs in place for at least two years.

To calculate CEO pay, Equilar adds salary, bonus, perks, stock awards, stock option awards and other pay components.